French judges investigating war crimes complaint against IDF over 2024 Beirut strike

French judges have opened a war crimes investigation into an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Beirut in November 2024, following a complaint by French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri whose parents were killed. The Paris Judicial Court appointed two investigating judges. The IDF has not commented.

France has opened a judicial investigation into a war crimes complaint over an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in central Beirut in November 2024. The complaint was filed by French-Lebanese artist Ali Cherri, whose parents were killed in the strike, alongside the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). The crimes against humanity unit of the Paris Judicial Court has appointed two investigating judges. The strike occurred on the evening of November 26, 2024, hours before a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was due to take effect. It hit a ninth-floor apartment owned by Cherri, also damaging floors below, and killed five civilians including Cherri's parents and a domestic worker. The complaint argues the bombing could constitute a war crime. Amnesty International supported the case, stating its investigation found no evidence of a military objective in or near the building and no effective advance warning. The IDF has not yet commented. The article notes the broader context of the 2023-2024 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into full-scale war in September 2024 and ended with a ceasefire in November 2024. The framing relies on the complainant's and human rights groups' accounts without an IDF response.